The Buffalo Sabres are having yet another difficult season and centre Dylan Cozens thinks he knows why.
“I think we definitely play way too soft. We’re too easy to play against and we need to get a little ‘FU’ in our game,” Cozens said on Saturday to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, after a 6-2 loss the Carolina.
“I think we had more of that last year. We’re way too soft this year. I feel like we don’t kill plays. We kind of get bullied and stuff and we know we need to be way harder to play against. We’re too easy to play against right now.”
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The Sabres, who are loaded with former top draft picks, are 10-12-2 and mired in seventh spot in the Atlantic. The only thing keeping them out of eighth is the fact the struggling Senators have played five fewer games and are four points behind.
Buffalo finished last season 42-33-7, good for 91 points, narrowly missing out on a wild-card playoff spot. That feels like ancient history at the moment for the Sabres
“We need to go in and look at each game like this is our game,” Cozens said. “‘This is our game to win. We’re not going to give you guys a chance.’ We need to finish more checks, be harder to play against, stronger on puck battles. We need to kill plays in the defensive zone. We’ve got to be way harder to play against.”
Cozens — who has just four goals and seven assists in 22 games, while earning $7.1 million — later acknowledged he was part of the problem.
“I know it starts with me and I need to be way better to help turn things around,” said the 22 year old, who hails from Whitehorse.
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